Comments on: Spica is a whirling double star

By: Larry Sessions

Larry Sessions — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:46:03 +0000

JK, be sure to listen to EarthSky’s broadcasts as well. Deborah is too modest to note it, but she is the one who started “Star Date” years ago, and has since founded and continues to spearhead the efforts of EarthSky to be a “Clear Voice for Science.” You can hear her and other Earthsky voices on various radio stations, as well as through podcasts such as the “EarthSky 22″: http://earthsky.org/team/earthsky22
Larry Sessions

By: Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:38:31 +0000

Thanks for stopping by JK!

By: JK

JK — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:21:45 +0000

Thanks Larry and Deborah. I heard the lady on NPR’s “Star Date” program say “spike-a” today, so you’re right, you do just have to pick a pronunciation and go with it!

Thanks for the great topics–I love this blog.

By: Larry Sessions

Larry Sessions — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:32:30 +0000

There is no “set-in-stone” pronunciation. Language is fluid and dynamic. I had three years of Latin in High School, and we learned classical pronunciation, which would demand SPEE-kuh instead of SPY-kuh. However, “Latin is a dead language… as dead as it can be. First it killed the Romans, and not it’s killing me.”

Tthe proper pronunciation is what the majority of people use, and the vast majority (at least in my experience) use SPY-kuh over SPEE-kuh. Take your pick. the important thing is simply to be consistent. In America, the predominant pronunciation is BEETLE-juice rather than BeTELL-jewz or any other variant. Use what feels good to you. There are some guidelines, of course, but I personally suggest that you should simply pick one pronunciation that sounds good to you, and stick to it..

By: Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:47:23 +0000

JK, you might notice there’s an audio file available at the top of this post. We include audio files at the top of all our Brightest Stars posts giving pronunciations. http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars

We don’t give ALL pronunciations, however. On this post, we say “SPEE-ka” as you do. Many others do call it “SPY-ka.”

As to “follow the arc to Arcturus and drive a spike to Spica,” we’ve heard this phrase various ways as well. Some say, “follow the arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica.”

There’s no right and wrong here! It’s stargazing, and it’s all just for fun.

Enjoy,

Deborah

By: JK

JK — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:30:28 +0000

I too was going to ask about pronunciation! Thanks for the resources! I’ve been calling Spica “speeka” for years, because I heard someone on TV say it that way, but “drive a spike” indicates a different vowel sound. Larry, thanks for the awesome list–but from the end of your comment I get the impression that there aren’t firm answers on pronunciations. I have a botanist friend whom I’ve asked about plant pronunciations, and he says that because the botanical names are Latinized, and Latin is not a spoken language, no one knows for sure how they should be pronounced–it’s sort of a “your guess is as good as mine” situation. It seems like their should be rules, though–with plants, it seems like Latin rules should apply, and with stars, shouldn’t it depend on the rules of the language of origin? In the Fomalhaut example, doesn’t the “oh” vs. “owt” ending depend on the language that was used to name it?

I have said “Beetle-juice” all my life, but it turns out it has a ton of pronunciations. At any rate, I have been LOVING these blog posts that have been teaching me lesser-known stars. My favorite line in this particular post is “it’ll be your friend for life.” I couldn’t agree more. The brightest stars have been my friends since I first learned them at age 16, and now I am getting to know the names of new friends for life. Because of one of your recent posts, I now know the names of seven stars in Leo, whereas I used to know only Regulus. Even if I’m not exactly sure how to pronounce them, knowing their names makes it so much more rewarding to look up and see them.

So, thanks!!’

Chertan….would that be “shirt-an” or “churt-an”, or “share-tan”, or… :-)

By: Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 10:09:18 +0000

Hi Deb,

EarthSky is at work on articles about each of the brightest stars, and we do include pronunciations. The post you commented on is one of those articles. You’ll find the others here: http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars

By: Larry Sessions

Larry Sessions — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 03:02:40 +0000

Hi, Deb. Glad you are enjoying it. We can’t make specific brand endorsements, but when you are looking for binoculars, I suggest that are not to heavy to hold up for extended periods of time. Those that are labeled “7 X 50″ or “8 X 50″ are popular. The first number signifies the magnifying power, and the second signifies the diameter of the large objective lens (opposite the lens you look through). I would also suggest that you stick with a well-known brand. There are actually two types. The first is just two small, cheap telescopes fixed together. Each has a straight tube (although some have riduculous bulges at the side intended to deceive). These are called “field glasses.” True binoculars normally are of better quality, and have a true “dog leg” offset of the tube — that is, each side is not a straight tube, but the bottom part is offset. You can find out more from this page on EarthSky:
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/top-tips-for-using-ordinary-binoculars-for-stargazing

Now, as for pronunciation, I am sorry but I cannot find the page we used to have here. However, here is a pretty guide in PDF format from the Astronomical League:
http://www.astroleague.org/files/astronotes/07anote%20PronounceGuide1.pdf

Actually, there are many variations. For Fomalhaut, for example, here on EarthSky we use FOH-mul-oh, where as elsewhere it may be described as foh-mul-HOWT or FO-mal-ought. Likewise, Betelgeuse can be Beetle-juice, Be-TELL-juice or Be-tell-Jeez.

Larry S.

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:32:57 +0000

April 13, 2012 at 6:30 pm
thanks so much for teaching me so much about the sky!! I love it and try to absorb as much as I can, now that in life I have time. Please tell me what is the best mid-range binoculars to purchase, ( I did not win the lottery). also where can I find a pronounciation sheet of the Stars, I think I could rememeber them better if I could pronounce them.
I have the FCPS Planetaria Starfinder Constellations; but has few stars on it. Is there a site that list the brightest stars and their pronounciation? thanks for your help. Deb

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:30:17 +0000

thanks so much for teaching me so much about the sky!! I love it and try to absorb as much as I can, now that in life I have time. Please tell me what is the best mid-range binoculars to purchase, ( I did not win the lottery). also where can I find a pronounciation sheet of the Stars, I think I could rememeber them better if I could pronounce them.
I have the FCPS Planetaria Starfinder Constellations; but has few stars on it. Is there a site that list the brightest stars and their pronounciation? thanks for your help. Deb